It's a Wonderful Life: Emmerdale
by Ministryofchaos
Summary: Set in the early stages of my regular AU. Loosely based on the well known Christmas classic: in a time of need around the festive season, Aaron has "friends in high places"...
1. Chapter 1

**Hello:) Well, the postage was a bit pricey so I hope this kind of makes up for not getting you lot anything for Christmas. As the title suggests it's loosely based on aspects of the film "It's a wonderful life", I own nothing besides my own characters, blah, blah.**

**Composed of 3 parts; other two are already written so will most likely be uploaded tomorrow. Hope you like.**

**Part one**

It was that time of year again, no doubt about it. There was a light dusting of snow along the roofs and the roads of the village, the interior of the Woolpack was decked with wreaths and sprigs of holly everywhere and Paddy was busy putting up fairy lights along the guttering of Smithy cottage; trying and failing to cheerily whistle "stop the cavalry" through chattering teeth as he did so, preferring to freeze before he'd admit to needing something so girly as a jacket.

It was with a flicker of amusement that Aaron watched him, having caught sight of him on his way past. He wouldn't say it too loudly but he'd always enjoyed helping Paddy put up the Christmas decorations in the past. True, it'd taken a good lot of goading before he'd pretend to grudgingly give in to Paddy's belly-aching but in the end he'd always find his scowl slipping by the time the tree was up and the bad Christmas movie was turned on.

Just then Aaron noticed a wobble in Paddy's ladder as his foster father stretched upwards in order to untangle a knot in a particularly annoying length of lights. Just as he opened his mouth to call out a warning the ladder gave away from the wall, causing an unexpecting Paddy to drop heavily.

Luckily Paddy's flailing arms managed to firmly grip hold of the guttering, stopping his fall. The four foot fall would hardly have done much damage but all the same Paddy preferred to meet the ground in his own time rather than gravity's. His look of shocked relief quickly turned to one of annoyance as he heard the noise of familiar cackles behind him. Turning his head he snapped at his chuckling surrogate son "When you're done having a gawp will you kindly put the ladder back up?"

"Aw but why would I do that, Paddy?" Aaron snickered as he approached "You look just like an angel dangling there, really sets the Christmas mood!"

"Cut the wisecracks and put the flaming ladder back up!" Paddy snapped again; his arms starting to ache as he clung to the side of his house for dear life, guttering creaking threateningly. Finally taking pity on him Aaron repositioned the ladder, Paddy settling his feet on one of the rungs with a sigh of relief. Climbing back down he turned to face a still-smirking Aaron "Anyway Jacob Marley, what are you doing dragging your bad luck around these parts?"

"Charming! I'm out on a holly-picking spree- his lordship needs to bring some in for school." As if to prove his point he pulled some holly sprigs out of a plastic bag with a grimace "Of course he had to mention in a class full of townies that we have hedges full of them so muggins had to pull about twenty sprigs. I even have the scratches to prove it."

Paddy chuckled at his unimpressed expression "Look on the bright side; you're definitely in the polls for dad of the year now."

"Har dee har har."

"C'mon, where's your Christmas spirit?" Paddy chided gently, to which Aaron replied "That usually doesn't kick in until at least the twenty-fourth." He then smiled "Though it might just come a little earlier than usual this year; getting my bonus the week after next!"

"Nice one." Paddy nodded "Your Kay will be getting a proper spoiling this year!"

"Isn't he bloody spoilt all year round?" Aaron rolled his eyes with a grin "It's actually Jay I'm looking to treat this year."

"How so?"

"Well he's always said how much he'd like to fly with the Red Arrows, and we both know that costs a bit of bob so I've been saving up for this the past couple of years. With the bonus I'll finally be able to afford it, on top of everything Kalum's put in his Santa letter."

Paddy gave him an approving look "Is it too late for you to adopt me?"

"Get stuffed!" Aaron laughed. He couldn't deny his high spirits. He had a feeling that this Christmas was going to be the best one for his family yet, and after such a turbulent year they deserved it. Nothing else could possibly go wrong.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Here's Santa's little helper coming now!"

Kalum giggled at his daddy's wit as his dad came through the door laden with a bag of holly. Aaron scoffed "Funny now, I didn't see _you _running out to wrestle with a few prickly bushes!"

"Was too busy putting up the outdoor lights, or did you just figure our house had been turned into a runway while you were out?" Jackson replied smartly before tossing Aaron a box of decorations "Well c'mon then, the place isn't going to do itself!"

Just under two hours later Aaron and Kay were putting the finishing touches to the tree with Aaron raising their six year old to put the star on top when Aaron noticed something odd about Jay's jacket. Jackson, who was at the foot of the tree trying to locate a fractured bulb, seemed to have managed to rip a huge tear down the back of his good leather jacket.

Once Aaron had pointed it out Jackson immediately whipped it off for inspection before his face fell dismally "Ah bum! I knew I felt it catch on something today!"

With a heavy sigh he folded it up and tossed it on to the sofa "I'll chuck it out later. Imagine, I've had that jacket since I was twenty-one and not a single tear in it till today!"

"I think that's a sign that it's time for a new one." Aaron grinned.

Jackson scoffed "Between Christmas, your birthday and Kay's birthday methinks I won't be buying another until at least next May!"

Kalum watched on earnestly "Can you not fix it with stitches?"

"You can't stitch leather, baby." Jackson replied.

Kalum looked pensive for a few seconds before suggesting "I could write to Santa for a new one and pretend it's for me, because I know he doesn't give stuff to grown-ups."

Kay was less than pleased that his fool-proof plan was met by amused laughter. Noticing his put-out expression Jackson picked him up and gave him a kiss "That's really nice of you to offer, sweetheart, but I think Santa would get a bit suspicious if he was delivering a huge jacket to a little lad like you."

"'M not little!" Kay huffed but started smiling as Jackson pulled a face to match his huffy one. "Alright then, lanky! Anyway, what did you put on your list for Santa this year?"

It was with a smile that Aaron listened in while Kay elaborated; surprisingly it wasn't many things but everything was going to be affordable this year. Once Kay was tucked up in bed the two men curled up on the sofa. Both were tired but in high spirits in expectation of the weeks ahead; Jackson of course knew nothing about Aaron's plans but the thoughts of Christmas alone made him happy.

Of course, Aaron's thoughts were happy ones too. He wasn't much bothered about what gifts he received but he couldn't wait to spoil his boys. He wasn't a materialistic person but throughout his whole life he had constantly been dealt one bad hand after another and now that he was finally happy and sorted he wanted his family to have the best of everything for at least one day in the year; to make them even half as happy as they had made him. It was rare that he would have such a means to splash out on them so he was going to make the most of it.

"Penny for 'em."

Aaron was snapped out of his train of thought by his husband's remark at his pensive expression. He grinned "I'm just thinking; the three wise men couldn't have been that wise."

Jackson frowned in confusion "What makes you think that?"

"Well, they got lost didn't they?"

Jackson shook his head in fond disbelief "I really don't know what goes on in that head of yours!"

"You love me really." Aaron teased lightly.

"Unfortunately I do." Jackson sighed melodramatically before smiling as Aaron leant in for a kiss. As they lay together comfortably with the warmth of the fire and the dim glow of the tree setting a relaxing atmosphere in the room both couldn't help but feel an enormous sense of ease and at peace with the world.

Little expecting that their cosy little evening was being observed from somewhere in the _other _world.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Many, many far-off dimensions away three unearthly beings stood observing the couple. While two, a male and a female, stood with rather grave expressions at the vision the third, another male who was a good few centuries younger than the other two, sported a look of confusion.

Once the vision had ended the female let out a mournful sigh while the eldest male shook his head grievously "Poor, poor man."

The youngest still couldn't fathom what was troubling his elders, or what their reason was for calling him here. The three had just experienced a joint vision of the life of a man the two elders seemed eager for him to learn about, Aaron Livesy. Or Walsh, as he was now known.

Malachai had been educated enough in his few millennia of divine purpose to know not to ask questions before trying to work out the problem for himself but as this particular vision came to an end he admittedly was stumped.

Fair enough, at the beginning of the "show" as he liked to call it he had felt some form of empathy towards the young lad who had been "kicked to the curb" to use the human phrase pretty much from the beginning; an absent mother, a useless father, a non-existent childhood. By the time the scenery switched to the man's teenage years Malachai had lost a good bit of his sympathetic feelings, seeing the neglected young boy turn into a hot-headed, bad-mannered yob. But being a creature of divine talents Malachai could see even through visions of the past the innermost feelings, dreams and longings of an individual. In this particular man he could see anger, most definitely, but also sadness, loneliness, and above all feelings of neglect. This part was so simple a human could work it out; the brutish front was little more than a defence mechanism for a lad let down and hurt his whole life.

Malachai, who knew how amateur a mistake it was to judge humans on expression alone, focused more on the feelings of this young man than anything else. For much of his teenage years there was a repetitive pattern of emotions; anger, neglect, et cetera. But suddenly by the time of the man's eighteenth year some new emotions were emerging- no, Malachai had almost slipped on that one- emotions that had been long-suppressed had come to the surface namely confusion, uncertainty and some form of…. longing.

At first Malachai wasn't too certain if he had imagined the latter emotion, it was so faint, but as time ticked on he was beginning to sense it more and more. Also amongst this were panic, nervousness and occasionally anger, which the young spiritual being was less than surprised to see. But gradually, ever so gradually Malachai was getting the steady sense of …. _happiness_?

Yes, yes happiness was definitely there. A sort of uncertain, hesitant happiness but Malachai could definitely feel it. After so many cold and distant emotions this bleak streak came as a form of relief for the celestial male. More and more this sense of happiness and well-being seemed to increase; sometimes mixed with annoyance, sometimes rage and Malachai could've sworn he'd felt heartbreak in there somewhere but overall the happiness prevailed until finally Malachai could feel no more intense negative emotions. Instead he was admittedly shocked to discover that a lot of these bad feelings had been replaced by one particular emotion- love.

Being what he was, young Malachai along with the rest of his unearthly kin did not view or perceive love in such a way as the inhabitants of Earth. For them it was more of a natural force amongst the living, one of much strength, even stronger than what humans call "gravity". In fact they deemed it to be quite possibly one of the strongest forces in existence, if not the most.

They found certain groups of humans funny in their perception of "the force". There were ones who believed the force did not apply to two people of different skin pigments for example. Others denied the existence of the force between two humans who didn't share the same views of how the creator of heaven and earth worked. But one view which had prolonged the previous two was the idea that the force could not possibly be present between a pair of humans who both shared the same gender of their species.

Those of unearthly power though patient found it difficult at times to understand humanity's ability to be so, for want of a better word, stupid. Surely if a force so inferior to love such as gravity was unbiased in its purpose and unrejectable to mankind then the force of love was ten times more so.

Concerning young Livesy-turned-Walsh Malachai was able to recognise the different forms of the force, mainly romantic and later paternal. Of course while his main focus had been on these emotions he had also been taking note of the events surrounding them. Once the vision had faded to black he confessed that he found it difficult to see why his elders were so grim;

"He's had a bit of a hard start in life, alright. That's plain to see. But he's happy now, blissfully content. I can feel it. Why does he trouble you?"

Judith, an elder heavenly guardian with more than ten millennia under her belt but with the appearance of a human girl of twenty turned to meet his questioning look "You saw also the trials he experienced in the past Earth year?"

Malachai nodded "That business with the child's father. A rather tough year."

"It has." Judith agreed before returning her gaze forwards "Which is why we now must intervene."

Malachai's eyes widened in astonishment "But why do we need to? You saw him- he's happy!"

"The trouble with humans is that their happiness is usually only temporary." Zachary, the other elder tutted disapprovingly "As we speak destiny is taking a rather disappointing turn on Mr Walsh, one of which he may need our assistance in helping overcome later on."

Malachai couldn't believe this "But why him? Granted, his life hasn't been a bed of roses and even now it takes a couple of cruel turns on him now and again but for the most part he's perfectly set. Job, home, family, the lot!"

"We did not call you here to witness a rerun of Mr Walsh's lifetime for the sake of amusement, Malachai. All will make more sense to you in time. Do not forget that our powers do exceed yours in ways you've yet to master."

This wasn't a boast, merely a fact. Being little more than an adolescent in the elders' eyes, Malachai could not yet summon the ability to read images or emotions of the future.

Just then the young spirit realised something about Judith's sentence "In time?... hold on, you can't honestly be suggesting that I go to _Earth_?"

An odd twitch of Zachary's mouth told Malachai that he was attempting to suppress a smile. "We are, along with brief use of our powers."

As tempting as that sounded Malachai still argued "You are sending me on a mission of which I have no idea about to save a man who doesn't need saving? What sort of-"

"It's that time of the human year, Malachai." Judith interrupted "Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever name different humans give it. It's the one time when our worlds are closest together, a time of more goodwill and mercy amongst mankind. Therefore we can afford to offer more mercy to those humans who may just require a touch of it at this time."

Malachai still didn't look happy. However his protest was stalled by Zachary's addition of "Also, think of how such an act would affect your promotion."

At this Malachai's eyes lit up "You mean I'll finally get my wings?"

Judith and Zachary shared a subtle, knowing glance at the badly hidden enthusiasm in Malachai's voice. A human could've seen that wild horses wouldn't stop him from going now.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

It was finally the week of the Big Day.

On the morning of the twenty-second Aaron stood shaving at the bathroom sink, a big smile on his face. He'd received an unexpected phone call from the garage in Hotten that morning, telling him that the boss needed to see him. Excited at the prospect of getting his raise just in time for Christmas Aaron couldn't stop grinning like an idiot. His boss, Pat, was a diamond so any news he had for him had to be good news.

As Jackson came into their bedroom he caught sight of his grinning partner in their en suite and approached with a smile of his own "Someone's happy!"

Aaron shrugged "Tis the season to be jolly and all that crap. Plus one of the lads called from work; boss man wants to see me."

"Oh?" to Aaron's surprise Jackson didn't sound as enthused as he should've been. "Something wrong?"

"No, no. Is it Pat or Andrew who wants to see you?"

Aaron froze temporarily; while his boss was mint Pat's advisor was a bit of a prick, for lack of a better word. For whatever reason Pat's second-in-charge Andrew didn't see eye to eye with Aaron and the further apart they were the better as far as Aaron was concerned. Still, Pat was the headman over all so Aaron doubted he'd let such a twerp run one of his workers over.

With his face half-shaven Aaron turned to face his husband, not letting the confident smile slip from his face "I'm sure it'll be Pat. Even if it's not I could eat a silly little prat like Andrew for breakfast any day, you know that."

"I know." Jackson linked his arms loosely around Aaron's waist "Just don't let him bug you, ok? From what you've told me he can be a sly little git."

Aaron looked up at his husband's face and nodded "I won't." As though to seal this promise he leaned in to share a kiss, getting some shaving cream on Jay's face in the process causing Jackson to chuckle and break away. Aaron looked amused "You look a bit like Father Christmas now."

"Mmm." Jackson smirked mischievously "Well then the question has to be asked; are you naughty or nice?"

Aaron raised an eyebrow coyly "I can be whichever one you prefer…"

Their moment was broken just then by calls of "Dad! Daddy!"

Chuckling and sharing a quick final kiss they broke apart, Jackson headed downstairs while Aaron finished off shaving. Once presentable he too descended the stairs where he found his husband and son waiting patiently "What's up?" he addressed Jackson.

"Beats me, he wanted to wait until you were here too."

Now that he had both of their attentions Kay pulled out what looked two small packages which looked like they had been wrapped in the dark. Still this did nothing to sway his parents delight "Aw thank you sweetheart! You really shouldn't have!"

But before Jackson could place them under the tree Kay had hurriedly exclaimed "You can open them now!" Both men looked surprised "Should we not leave them until Christmas, mate?"

"No, open them now." Kalum insisted eagerly. Aaron sighed "Ok buddy, but this doesn't mean you get to open your presents early just so you know!"

"I know." Kay replied somewhat impatiently while the presents were retrieved. Ripping open the paper both his dads found identical presents in the form of brown wooden bead bracelets.

"We made them in school." Kalum explained "Teacher calls them Angel bracelets. She said that some people are sad at Christmas because they aren't very lucky but these bracelets are supposed to keep you lucky. That's why you have to open them now."

Both of his parents were touched by the sentiment. Jackson scooped him up into his arms for a hug "Thank you, baby. I'm sure we'll have the best luck in the world with these!"

Aaron slipped his own on and gave his son a kiss "Thanks, buddy. We love them!"

Just then he noticed the time "Better get going, I'll see you two later." "Best of luck, babe." Jackson smiled as Aaron leant in to give both of them a kiss goodbye. "If I didn't have it before I'll definitely have it now!" Aaron chuckled as he ruffled Kay's sandy hair.

Jackson stood at the doorway with Kalum in his arms and they waved Aaron off as he pulled out of the driveway. He was still smiling to himself as he drove out of the village; his family meant the absolute world to him and even now he couldn't believe how lucky he was to have them.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Aaron arrived at the door of the office and rapped the door smartly before entering; he was nervous to be honest, but mostly excited. After all he had nothing to worry ab-

His heart sank slightly as he opened the door to find a thin, lanky figure sat at the desk of Pat Martin. Looking past his glasses down his long nose at Aaron, Andrew McKinnon beckoned stiffly "Have a seat, Aaron."

Dark mood already descending upon him Aaron replied "Thank you, Andrew."

Andrew glowered at Aaron's deliberate informal response as he took his seat opposite his boss' second in command. Aaron couldn't care less; he only used formalities for those worthy of his respect. Aaron Walsh didn't kowtow to anyone.

"I expect you know why you're here."

Shifting slightly in his seat Aaron grunted "It's about my bonus isn't it?"

"Well yes, it does concern that."

Something about the tone of McKinnon's voice made Aaron feel uneasy. Still he mentally told himself that it was nothing as he forced himself to reply smoothly "Well, what about it?"

McKinnon sighed heavily as though deeply troubled by what he had to say and clasped his hands as he sat up straight at the desk with an air of importance "I'm afraid you won't be receiving it this year."

Aaron felt as though the roof had caved in on him as he exclaimed with a mixture of shock and anger "WHAT? Why the hell not?"

McKinnon frowned as though disapproving of Aaron's tone though Aaron would bet anything that he was secretly enjoying this "Wages are scarce this year Aaron, I trust you know that. We can't afford to give everyone the same amount of bonuses. A sacrifice must be made."

"But why me? I've been bloody working here for over a year and I'm better trained than half of the crew in that garage! Pat told me just last week that if any worker was suited to succeed him should he drop dead tomorrow it would be me, surely that counts for something of my working efforts throughout the year!" Aaron didn't care how big-headed that might sound as his fury took over.

The prat in the suit nodded his head slowly in mock sympathy "Ah yes, Pat is a nice man. Always knows how to boost self-esteem."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aaron growled through gritted teeth.

McKinnon looked at him oddly as though he were stupid. "Aaron, surely you know that it will never be possible for you to succeed Pat. My apologies for sounding so blunt, but in a well-established company such as this individuals with criminal records do not inherit the top spot."

Had his final sentence not stunned Aaron so horribly deeply he would have grabbed the smug idiot by the lapels and hauled him across the desk. "_Criminal record_? I did a bit of petty theft, nothing more extravagant than a fucking bike! I was a fucking kid!" He was beginning to see red as he stood up and placed his hands down firmly on the desk so as to look eye to eye with the dangerously calm man in front of him "I want to speak to Pat! This is bullshit!"

"Pat is currently on a ski holiday." McKinnon replied coolly "Which means I call the shots while he's away. Right now I would like you to leave. Good day, _Mr _Walsh."

But Aaron couldn't just let this go "I'm not leaving until I get the money I worked my arse off all year for!"

"Should you not leave at once Mr Walsh the only money you shall be taking away with you is a redundancy packet." McKinnon's tone was calm, but dangerously so. It was the voice of someone you didn't mess with.

Aaron knew this, which was why he closed his mouth before anything else came out that he'd end up regretting. Noting that he had made a checkmate, McKinnon did his infuriating little nod once more before returning his attention to a sheet full of statistics "Good day, Mr Walsh."

Just as an enraged Aaron nearly ripped the door off its hinges as he made to storm out he heard the same subtly smug voice behind him once more "Oh, and Aaron?"

Aaron paused briefly with his back to the speaker.

"Speaking of your criminal record, try to calm down before you greet that partner of yours at home ok? Wouldn't do to have a repeated offence added to the record out of a little momentary anger."

It took Aaron a moment to realise what he was referring to; once he did he swung back around with his eyes flashing and almost trembling with rage "How dar-"

He stopped before he could give the rat an excuse to dismiss him altogether. Still shaking violently with outrage he forced himself to turn away once more and leave the smirking bastard to his own devices.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

How he managed to drive home without colliding with something or someone was a miracle in itself. Nowadays it was rare that he should become so vexed but McKinnon had pushed him well over his limit.

Nevertheless he had taken the slimeball's advice and attempted to calm down considerably before he came home. Regardless of what that prick was suggesting he'd never raise his hand to Jackson. Never. B ut all the same he didn't want his foul mood to affect either Jay or Kalum. He tried steadying himself by mentally saying it didn't matter, he'd still be able to afford most things with the wage he had. It was difficult but he managed to harness in most of his fury by the time he'd entered the village and was moderately mellow by the time he reached his driveway.

This disintegrated in a flash as he saw his husband tearing out through their front door in a panicked state "Thank God you're back!"

"Why what's wrong? Where's Kalum? Is he ok?" Aaron began panicking; after all they'd been through this year surely destiny wasn't going to be so cruel to them again!

"He's inside, he's fine! It's your mum; she's been in a car accident!"

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Less than an hour later the two men stood by a hospital bed. Kay had been left with his nana Hazel while they'd raced to Hotten, met by a doctor upon arrival.

Chas' injuries weren't too serious thankfully. The other car had skidded and collided with the right side of her car; fortunately its speed hadn't been too high upon the point of collision, leaving Chas with a broken right arm and a couple of busted ribs but these would heal in time. Until then however Chas was off work.

But it wasn't this that worried her "The police say the driver wasn't insured; it's going to cost a small fortune to pay this out!" This upset her; between Christmas and saving up for a new house she had very little to spare.

Aaron knew this and automatically proposed "We'll help you out, mum! Won't we Jay?"

"Of course we will!" Jackson wholly agreed, pulling out the check book.

"You most certainly won't! Christmas is the most bloody expensive time of the year and I'm not having you wasting your hard-earned-"

"No excuses! We're not seeing you in debt over Christmas either!"

Chas chose that moment to swipe across her eyes, acting as though rubbing away an eyelash "Thank you, my wonderful sons!"

"Don't be soft." Aaron chuckled though inside his stomach had turned to ice. Of course he had no qualms at all about helping his mother, but there went another few hundred. He desperately hoped his bad luck would end here.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxxoxx

The next day came and brought Christmas Eve with it, so naturally there was great excitement throughout the Walsh household. Well, for two of them at least. Aaron, who hadn't slept too well the night before, was rather quiet and troubled, sitting and mulling over his thoughts while his partner and son busied themselves getting the house set for the family party they were throwing later on.

_Another bloody thing we can't afford _Aaron thought bitterly. He was temporarily interrupted in his thinking by his partner "Hey babe, would you mind running to get some more mulled wine? Cain must've had a lot more than a glass that time he was here!"

It would give him more time alone with his thoughts and would save them the pain of looking at his grumpy face so Aaron didn't see why not. Rising to his feet and throwing his jacket on he was stopped briefly by a hand on his arm. "I know how disappointed you are about the bonus, babe, but don't let it annoy you. We're fine, everything's sorted financially and it's Christmas tomorrow. Please don't be upset."

Aaron forced a smile "I'm not. Really." He gave his partner a quick kiss "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

"Ok." But Jackson didn't sound too sure as his husband walked out the door.

As luck would have it, David's was out of mulled wine so Aaron phoned Jay to let him know he was going to Hotten. However his mood had ceased to improve as he made his way there and picked up the wine, to the point where he found himself unable to pass the inviting lit-up windows of a corner pub. One drink wouldn't put him over the limit, and the fact that being in the spirit of Christmas all first drinks were on the house made it extra attractive.

Though the alcohol failed to ease his woes it did make him feel a little better knowing that at least this wouldn't cost him anything. While he sipped he contemplated the situation; Kalum was pretty much sorted with his presents even though Aaron would've liked to have bought a few more for him. It wasn't as though he had nothing for Jackson either, he had picked up a few nice bits for him but the Red Arrows had always been Jackson's dream.

Calculating numbers in his head he was amazed to find that should he only be able to find sixty pound more he could afford it, and that was if he all but emptied his personal savings. The question was where could he get it? After all he didn't like the idea of asking someone for a loan around this time of the year.

His thoughts were interrupted by a gruff voice beside him "Sorry for disturbing you mate, but would you mind telling me where you got that jacket? Been looking for a decent one for ages."

Aaron's head snapped up as he turned to look at a man who had appeared at his elbow as though out of thin air. He was probably around the same age as Aaron, with brown hair and curious grey eyes. Aaron looked down at his black leather jacket with a slight frown as he tried to remember where he'd bought it. "Sorry mate, I've had it that long I can't remember." He sighed.

Just then inspiration hit like a lightning bolt. It was a crazy idea, desperate in fact, but then again he _was _desperate. Clearing his throat he asked "How much do you like it, mate?"

"I'd say a lot. It's stylish yet not fussy, just what I'm looking for."

"If it was in a shop would you willingly pay, say, ninety pound for it?"

"I guess I would."

At that Aaron whipped it off him and turned it from side to side to display its quality "How about I sell it to you for say, seventy?"

The man's eyes widened incredulously "You're not serious?"

"I am. It's good quality material, great nick as well. I paid almost double that for it."

The bloke seemed to consider this, eyes scanning the garment for possible errors "Is it real leather?"

"Have you got a lighter?"

The man did. Taking hold of it and clicking it Aaron ran its flame up and down the sleeve. "See? It's the real McCoy. Fancy trying it on?"

The bloke slipped it on and thankfully it fit him as well as it fit Aaron. After a few seconds of testing how it felt on the man seemed satisfied "Alright, as odd as it seems I'll take it. Seventy you wanted, wasn't it?"

Aaron really couldn't believe his luck as he with almost trembling hands took the cash off the stranger and tried to keep a casual voice as he thanked him before leaving the pub quickly, just in case he changed his mind. The walk back to the car was nippy without his jacket but his heart felt warm, warmer than it had felt these past two days.

He was still in disbelief as he drove homewards. So distracted was he that he nearly took a heart attack as he heard a loud bang coming from the rear of the car. Pulling into a nearby secluded area, which overlooked a small wooded area with a frozen over lake, Aaron got out to look at that damage. It was with a sigh of relief that he found it to simply be a flat tyre which could easily be replaced by the spare in the boot. Perhaps his luck was changing.

As he pulled the spare out he looked up to the sky and squinted; it was starting to darken. He didn't want Jay worrying over what was taking him so long, especially as this could take a while. He'd understand, all it would take was a quick call and-

Aaron felt himself freeze and his stomach drop as his hand reached automatically for the pocket in which he kept his phone and wallet, only to brush his fingers off the material of his thin shirt.

His jacket. Along with his phone, wallet and bank card.

Gone.

This proved too much for Aaron, who felt his last nerve snap. Shaking hands came up to clasp the sides of his head as he let out an agitated scream towards the night sky. Once his voice had died out he let his hands drop and as they did so he caught sight of the Angel bracelet, which only fuelled his anger. Angels, luck; it was bullshit all of it! Wrenching the bracelet off his wrist in anger he brought his hand back and flung it as far as possible.

Despite his fury he felt regret almost as soon as the object left his hand. It was after all Kalum's present to him which he had made himself, regardless of whether it was lucky or not. With a sad sigh Aaron started off in the direction of its travel, hoping to be able to find it before it got too dark to see.

Fortunately it didn't take too long to find it as it was lying in an easily visible spot. Less fortunate was the fact that it had landed in the middle of the frozen lake.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Had it been anyone else but Kay Aaron wouldn't have even considered it. But despite his better judgement he found himself edging slowly across the slippery, fragile surface of the lake towards the bracelet in the middle; his feet cautiously seeking out the thickest possible areas to stand on.

After many near heart failures due to the sounds of crackling beneath him, Aaron had reached his destination. With triumphant glee he bent slowly to pick up the bracelet.

Then with a horrifying, sickening crack he felt the surface beneath him give away.

Making the dire mistake of opening his mouth to yelp instinctively at the feeling of unbelievable coldness he had never felt before he had swallowed a load of freezing lake water. As he pushed himself to the surface he coughed and spluttered madly as he frantically tried to grip hold of the edge of the ice to no avail as his grip kept slipping. Each attempt at hauling himself back onto the surface ended in him slipping back under the cold icy surface until he eventually exhausted himself. As he desperately tried clinging to the slippery edge he was convinced that this was the end. If not by drowning, then the freezing cold would do it slowly. He closed his eyes as tears began to form; his only thought being that he was never going to see his beloved husband or child again….

Suddenly his eyes snapped back open in shock as he felt two hands suddenly grip his upper arms and haul him out of the cold water with incredible strength. Finding himself suddenly lying flat on his back on a hard, stable surface he shivered as the evening air hit his soaked clothes.

Pushing himself up slightly his eyes widened as he saw that he was once more on dry land, though it should have been impossible to have gotten from where he was to here in such a short time, especially as he'd no recollection of being carried.

"Bit late in the year for swimming, wouldn't you think?"

Aaron sat bolt upright and snapped his head around to look at his saviour. Though the light was dimming fast he was able to make out the figure of what looked to be a young man, probably no more than nineteen or twenty. He was tall and skinny, dressed casually in a thin jumper and jeans though he didn't seem to feel the cold. His hair was cut short and an unusual silvery colour and eyes of a similar shade. He was standing with his hands in his jeans pocket, casually observing Aaron as he would a football game.

Of all the things Aaron felt he should say to the young man who had saved his life he could only stammer one thing "Who are you?"

The strange young man smiled brightly "Call me Malachai."

….TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning: Chapter may contain upsetting themes.**

**Part two**

It took Aaron a few minutes to find his voice again "Thanks, for saving me." He muttered lamely.

"No problem." The young man replied cheerfully "It's my job."

Aaron frowned "You save people often around here?"

"Nope, just you. I'm your guardian angel."

At this Aaron stared at the totally at ease young man, wondering if the ice water had muddled his hearing up. "You're what?"

"Isn't that what your kind likes to call us? In a nutshell; I'm a spirit guardian, a Divine being, a cherub…" he pulled a face "I have to admit, I'm not too fond of that last term, but whatever you want to call me. Most of your kind tends to go for the "angel" term."

Aaron blinked; this lad was obviously a few sandwiches short of a picnic. He tried to find a way to carefully word his next sentence but was stopped by a cocking of the head of the supposed crackpot "You don't believe me, do you?"

"If I'm honest mate, no." Aaron admitted.

"Why not?"

"Well mate, you've basically just told me you're an angel. I'm not even too sure if I believe in angels."

"Understandable." Malachai rocked himself back and forward on the balls of his feet with a knowing smile "I notice you're not shivering anymore."

Aaron frowned at this sudden topic change before noticing it himself "Yeah I don't kn-" He stopped, stunned as he suddenly noticed that his clothes were bone dry. Convinced he was hallucinating he plucked at his shirt and trousers; dry.

Mouth dropping he turned his gaze back to Malachai, who was still smiling knowingly. "Ok… that's weird. But I'm still not convinced, sorry."

Malachai didn't seem offended at all. Instead he simply shrugged "It doesn't really matter if you believe or not, just so long as you agree to come along with me for a bit."

Aaron gave him a weird look ""Come along" _where _exactly?"

"Just a few places. I won't force you to, but it'd do you a lot of good if you were to accompany me, Aaron."

Aaron tried to put it politely "Look, Malachy-"

"Malachai." The stranger corrected patiently.

"….Malachai. Thanks for saving me out there and all, but I'd rather-" he stopped dead. "…. How did you know my name?"

At this Malachai's smile widened, for a second giving a startled Aaron the impression that his face had become illuminated "I don't only know your name; I know your address, your date of birth, your wedding date and your shoe size."

At this Aaron hurriedly got to his feet; terror and panic filling him as he backed away slowly from this strange person "I don't know who you are or how you know my name but I'd really appreciate it if you'd just go now…"

"I know you didn't get your bonus at work." Malachai interrupted, causing a stunned Aaron to fall silent "I know about your mother's car accident and I know that just before you fell in the lake you'd realised that you left your wallet and phone in the jacket you sold in the pub. Life's been a bit rough hasn't it?"

Aaron was almost too scared to speak. Either this lad was a serious stalker or...

He grunted almost shakily "You say you're an angel? Sent to look after me?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"Let's say for one second I believe that; how come you don't look like an angel?"

Malachai gave a little amused snort "Where you expecting white robes and a harp?"

"And wings." To Aaron's surprise Malachai for the first time seemed slightly miffed. "We don't get our wings until we complete an important mission, sort of like a rite of passage." He sniffed "A lot of us wait countless years for such a mission, some practically forever."

Aaron eyed the so-called spirit guardian who barely looked old enough to be served in a bar "How long have you been waiting then?"

"Not too long; only about four or five millennia." He replied matter-of-factly. Aaron felt slightly queasy at the bizarreness of all this; half-believing the cold had caused him to hallucinate. However he couldn't stop himself from asking "You don't have a halo, do you?"

Surprisingly Malachai nodded "I do." He then shut his eyes and breathed in deeply as though concentrating hard. At first nothing happened but suddenly the air around his silvery head began shimmering, and out of nowhere a golden light appeared to form around his skull, illuminating his head and face in the surrounding darkness.

Aaron's mouth was opened in a soundless scream and he found himself to have backed even further away from this strange being. The golden light was not like the stereotypical halos seen in children's books but more like a spotlight shining overhead which looked completely out of place contrasting with the casual shirt and jeans.

But so too did the face, which could now be better seen in the light; Malachai's face was totally immaculate. Even if Aaron had not already been told of the angel crap he still would've had no choice but to subconsciously believe that Malachai was not of this world; his face was just too perfect looking from its skin tone to its angles to be an ordinary human. It wasn't everyday Aaron could call a bloke beautiful but there just didn't seem to be any other word to describe him.

Satisfied, Malachai toned down the light until they were once again back in near darkness, a smug grin playing on his face. As loath as he was to admit it once he'd found his voice, Aaron begrudgingly said "Ok, I believe you. I don't want to but it seems I have to. But why are you here?"

Suddenly he felt as though he'd been punched in the stomach as a horrible thought came to him "I'm not _dead_,am I?" He started to feel panicky.

Malachai rolled his eyes as though Aaron had asked a very stupid question "Of course not. What would be the point in me coming to save a dead person?"

Aaron felt relief wash over him before asking curiously "What do you mean by saving? Surely if you'd come only to save me from drowning you'd have gone by now."

"Clever you." Malachai grinned, irking Aaron somewhat as he wasn't particularly keen on a lad who looked at least ten years his junior sassing him, regardless of how many millennia old he claimed to be. Malachai then grew serious "I'm here to save you in another way. I know how tough life's been on you both recently and in years long ago. As your assigned guardian I can feel what you feel and I know how you're feeling now isn't good emotions. You feel annoyed, angry and worthless am I right?"

Aaron automatically opened his mouth to protest before shutting it again slowly. He nodded. "And it's all down to feeling that you've failed your family, isn't it?"

Again Aaron nodded rather miserably "I feel as though I've let them down. After the year we've had, especially my son, I can't give them one perfect day out of the whole year. Now that I think about it all I seem to have ever done is bring bad luck and disappointment to my husband and my son's life, as well as many others. They'd have probably been better off if you'd just left me in that lake, at least the life insurance would've benefited them."

As he finally let out the pain and doubts he had been harbouring this past couple of days Malachi gave him a sympathetic yet comforting look "That's what I'm here to change. You believe your family would've been better off without you; I'm here to prove you otherwise. If you'll let me, that is."

While believing that was pretty pointless, Aaron felt he had nothing to lose. "Give it your best shot." He shrugged. With a nod Malachi laid a hand on Aaron's shoulder and with surprising force urged Aaron to walk forwards with him. As he began to walk Aaron was shocked to see the wooded area in front of him start to shimmer, as though immaterialising. Though slightly creeped out he continued walking forwards under Malachai's forceful hold, trying to ignore the shimmer and distortion of the area in front of him-

Suddenly he had to squint as he found himself back in daylight, pupils burning. Once they had adjusted he curiously took the opportunity to observe his surroundings and was taken aback by what he saw.

He was back in Emmerdale village.

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This really was too weird for words, or so Aaron thought anyway as he looked around. He noticed there were little changes about the village; a different shop here, a new house there. Nothing too extreme from where he was standing.

"I take it you know this place?" a voice in his ear made him jump. He turned his neck to look at Malachai, who looked just as radiant in the daylight though not as much as when surrounded by his divine light. "Yeah, this is my home."

"It didn't always feel that way though, did it?"

Aaron paused before shaking his head "No."

"There was one man in particular who helped make it feel that way. He took you under his wing when you were at your worst, didn't he?"

Aaron didn't need to ask who he was referring to "Paddy? Yeah, he's the only proper dad I've ever had. He was the first person to ever give a stuff about me when he didn't have to and the first to try set me on the right path. And I repaid him by trying to spoil things between him and my mum. Then when I was freaking out over being gay he was the first to try reaching out to me, and I responded by beating the crap out of him." He finished miserably "You can't say I made his life any better."

Malachai didn't answer, only lay his hand once more on Aaron's shoulder and cause the scene to dematerialise once again.

Aaron blinked as they found themselves once more in a familiar setting; Smithy cottage. It hadn't changed too much, in fact it was more or less the same as Aaron knew it. Gazing around him he jumped, startled as he saw a familiar figure sat at the table; Paddy. Paddy sat with a cup of tea between clasped hands and appeared to be staring off into space. He didn't look his usual cheery self, instead he looked rather melancholic and troubled to the point where Aaron was prompted to ask "Alright, Pads?"

But Paddy didn't lift his head, or show any acknowledgement of his question. From his right he heard Malachai mutter "This is only a shadow of what might have been. He has no consciousness of us."

Aaron nodded and continued watching Paddy, saddened by his down-hearted appearance. Malachai spoke again "Listen. What can you hear?"

Aaron did so, and frowned "Nothing."

"Exactly." Malachai nodded "Paddy is alone."

"What?" Aaron gaped "But where's Rhona? Leo?"

"Not here." Malachai answered simply "You were a bigger influence on Paddy's life than you might think. You were essentially his first son, and from you he learnt to toughen up and how to approach family life and fatherhood. Whether you or even he knows it, you inspired in him the confidence to face commitment."

"Me?" Aaron snorted "I was the least confident person ever! I bloody beat ten bells out of him for suggesting I was gay for fuck sake!"

"Yes, but then after a while you began to settle and accept yourself, to the point where you fully committed yourself to your partner after his accident." Malachai explained "That took courage, and inspired Paddy. Without that inspiration and experience he lacked the courage to pursue Rhona or commitment, so now he is alone. And unhappy."

Aaron took one last look at the depressed-looking Paddy before the scene faded away to darkness. When the darkness brightened almost a second later Aaron found himself in what looked to be a sleazy, run down room. Judging by the noise echoing through the room, he guessed they were in the back room of a nightclub.

"Why are we here?"

Malachai motioned his head towards the door and Aaron watched. Almost immediately the door burst open and a dark haired woman clad in a loosely fitting, patchy robe which was badly done up in the sense that the front revealed all clothes underneath, of which there were very few. But Aaron barely noticed how scantily clad the woman was as he was too busy staring in shock and horror at her face; it was sallower, it was sunken and dismal but it was unmistakeably his mothers.

Chas tucked the robe further around herself before slumping onto a rickety old chair in front of a cracked mirror, tossing her dark locks over her shoulder. From somewhere within her robe her hand withdrew a handful of pound notes, which she shuffled through briefly before sighing mournfully and looking back at the mirror, picking up a lipstick to further add to her already heavily made-up face.

A sudden rap on the door caused both her and her son to jump. A loud, gruff voice barked from the other side "I said you could take five, not the whole bloody night! Get your arse back out there; you've got a list of clients waiting!"

"In a minute!" Chas yelled back, her unacknowledged son wincing at the sound of her voice which sounded more dry and raw than usual. This whole scene made Aaron feel uncomfortable but nothing sickened him more than what his mother next drew from her robes.

Brushing her hair back over her shoulder with one hand and placing the small plastic bag full of white powder on the table in front of her Chas seemed to take a moment to mentally ready herself before taking hold of the bag and sprinkling a horizontal line of the powder across the table.

Aaron had turned away at this stage, face rather pale "Do we have to see any more of this?"

Malachai said nothing; only physically turned Aaron back around to face the scene again, just in time to see Chas lean forward so that her face was almost level with the table. Though most of her cascading black hair hid what was happening from view Aaron caught sight of the rolled up piece of paper before having to turn away once more as he felt he was going to vomit "Why?" he pleaded more than asked "Why is she doing this to herself?"

"You knew she used to be a stripper."

"But that was ages ago! She gave all that up!"

"For you." Malachai answered softly. "The reason she turned completely away is because she wanted something more, something that you as her son would be proud of."

"But she didn't see me for years!" Aaron sounded more confused than spiteful "She left me with my dad and we didn't speak for nearly ten years!"

"And yet she still wanted to retain even a small bit of pride in your eyes." Malachai replied firmly "Motherhood does affect female humans in different ways whether they are consciously aware of it or not. Chastity Dingle feared motherhood, feared the restriction and responsibility it brought with it but at the same time she never forgot about you. You will never be able to comprehend the extremity of her feelings of hope and desire when you fell back into her life as a teenager, though she didn't always show it."

"I s'pose I didn't really give her reason to." Aaron grinned weakly "But why this? Why is she still stripping? Why….?" He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Low self-worth, low ambition, easy money." Malachai shrugged "You forget Aaron that while you don't exist in this universe all other factors do; including your mother's relationship with your father. Without you to think of she held on to that toxic relationship far longer than she should have and this is the result. As for the drugs, well, to put it simply they are the only thing which makes her feel alive. Your presence in her life in later years gave her a purpose and a cause; now due to the fact that she's reduced to this and your non-existence, she feels nothing."

Aaron really couldn't believe this; surely he hadn't had this much of an impact on his mother's life. "But Emmerdale…. The Dingles… the Woolpack! They can't all be erased from her life!"

"Like I said; her drive for self-loathing and lack of ambition doesn't stimulate her to try too hard to make a life somewhere else. Her crack habit was the final straw for most members of her family so now she is pretty much alone. As for the Woolpack, that has long since become a mere ruin."

"_What_?" Aaron gasped.

"Without your assistance Victoria died in her fall through the ice all those Winters ago." Malachai explained "Out of grief Diane couldn't find it in her to keep the pub running and turned to drink. One night in a drunken stupor she set the pub alight, perishing in the inferno. Since then no effort was made to renovate the building out of respect so it has been left to simply rot away."

Aaron was silent, though his heart was beating heavily and his head swam with thoughts, interrupted only by Malachai's musings "I find it strange yet fascinating to observe such a change in human feelings when they enter parenthood. You aren't totally a stranger to that, are you?"

Aaron shook his head "No, I can get that. When me and Jay adopted our little boy, I can't even explain what a change in feelings I had. It was nearly like feeling for the first time." He warmed at the memory, only to then blanche as he realised why Malachai had brought the question up "He's next, isn't he?" Again Malachai offered only a small smile before laying his hand once more on his client's shoulder and causing this unhappy scene to disintegrate.

While Aaron was more than happy to leave this sorry state of his mother the scene which next awaited him was hardly better. They were in a small room, which looked rather bare save for a chest of drawers and a bed. Also helping to fill out the space in the room was the figure of a young boy sitting in a wheelchair gazing out through the window. He looked a bit older than Aaron's son, about maybe ten or eleven. It was only as he turned away from the window that Aaron's stomach fell in the realisation that it _was _his son. But this wasn't the Kalum Aaron knew or expected to be when he reached that age.

The light from the window reflected the brown eyes Aaron knew so well only these eyes were not the warm and smiley ones he usually saw. These ones were hard and, alarmingly for one so young, extremely cold as though the boy was completely unfeeling. His hair was scruffy and rather matted and his figure as a whole very scrawny and the face which Aaron knew so often to be bright and cheerful was dark and sulky, almost to the point of scary.

Aaron was stunned to the point of speechlessness; this couldn't possibly be his Kalum. And yet there could be no denying that it was. As though by ways of confirmation he heard another knock on the door and a strict-sounding "Kalum, it's me."

Kalum let out a grunt as his only reply and a woman entered, dressed in the orphanage's nurses uniform. In her hand she carried a plate of what looked to Aaron to be mash and cabbage. Whatever it was Kalum pulled an even sulkier face as it was placed in front of him.

"There's no need for that kind of attitude, Kalum." The nurse said firmly "It's no one's fault but your own that you have to eat dinner up here. What you did yesterday was very wrong; wielding a kitchen knife at Geoffrey! The poor lad only wanted to make friends and that's how you treat him! How on earth you managed to get hold of it in the first place is beyond m-"

She stopped as she noticed Kalum's almost satisfied expression turn to one of anxiety; though clearly she knew it wasn't anything to do with feelings of guilt over traumatising the new orphan. Not able to help himself Kalum's eyes flickered momentarily to the top drawer of his chest of drawers but a moment was all his nurse needed. Hurriedly pulling the drawer open and rifling through its contents she found what had been well-attempted to be hidden; a switchblade.

Kalum scowled while she pulled the entire drawer out and held it upside down so its contents fell to the floor; amongst the socks Aaron was shaken to his very foundations to see a Swiss army knife, a letter opener and what looked to be a potato peeler, which would have been funny if the situation hadn't been so serious. Gathering up the dangerous items and practically shaking with rage the nurse looked back at a sulky Kalum. "Kalum Albeck, I have no idea how on earth you got a hold of these but you are going to be in so much trouble! Do you realise how dangerous these are? Do you?"

Kalum made no verbal answer but merely shrugged carelessly. The woman's face reddened with fury at his unbothered expression "Two weeks with no TV, PlayStation or dessert! Maybe that'll teach you a lesson about bringing dangerous items into a place like this!"

Kalum's expression darkened at this punishment and he spat viciously at the woman, which caused her to further erupt "Three weeks! Do you want to aim for a full month?"

This time the rude young tearaway kept his saliva in his mouth, settling for just glaring hatefully at his nurse. Once she'd stormed out the room Kalum made sure she and everybody else who looked after him knew how he felt about his knives being confiscated and his punishment by hoisting his dinner plate in the air and firing it forcefully at the shut door, splattering food all over the place.

Aaron watched the scene unfold and it took all his strength to not instinctively restrain the boy. This was not his son. His son would never do such things or behave in such a way; Aaron and Jay were raising him better than that.

But that was the point, wasn't it? "This isn't like him." He croaked "My Kalum has more respect for people than that. He wouldn't hurt anybody."

"Not _your _Kalum." Malachai agreed "But in this universe you don't exist, so neither does _your _Kalum. Because he was never adopted by you Kalum has spent his life in the orphanage."

"But Jay-" Aaron stopped, realising. "But anyway, why wasn't he adopted by someone else?"

Malachai raised an eyebrow "Would you adopt _that_?"

Aaron hesitated before shaking his head "Not if he was like that. But he can't have always been like that! He wasn't, even before we adopted him! What happened to him?"

"His father." Aaron felt his heart drop like a stone at Malachai's words "He came by once he heard of the inheritance. Naturally he had to fight a long, hard court battle but he succeeded in the end because he had no competition."

"And….?" Aaron was fearful of what he would hear next.

"I'm sure you can guess. Barry Albeck used and abused the child for all he was worth, dumped him back here within a month of getting him back and disappeared without a trace along with the inheritance. Since then Kalum has been constantly on edge, constantly fearful."

"But how-"

"-did that turn him into the little beast he is now? Simple. Kalum was forced to grow up too fast because of what he'd experienced at such a young age, lost his childhood innocence before he'd even began losing baby teeth. Saw life as it really was; full of badness. He hasn't known any form of love other than platonic love, which by now has even disintegrated. He's rejected any offers of adoption because he's scared and he trusts no one. From his father he's come to understand that the ability to cause fear is linked with power, therefore if he scares people more than they scare him then he can't be hurt. That's why he carries knives. And why he still doesn't speak even at age ten."

Aaron's eyes stung with unshed tears as he looked once more upon the shameful image of the mute, terror of a boy. Before he could say anything Malachai continued "I know you're wondering why Jackson has not remained in Kalum's life. The reason for that is that your choosing to look into adoption was a mutual decision between both you and Jackson. Unfortunately in this life Jackson does not have the means to adopt, much as he'd like to."

"How do you mean?" Aaron asked, knowing what was coming next. Sure enough, within seconds they found themselves in a different setting. To Aaron's relief, he found this scene to be reasonably pleasant. They were in the kitchen of a house Aaron had never been in before and it looked rather nice and welcoming with food heating away on the cooker.

Aaron's heart gave a skip as he noticed an all too familiar figure enter the kitchen; Jackson. Jay didn't look at all different thankfully, except Aaron could see he was a bit uncomfortable in the heat of the kitchen with a jacket on. Clearly he was still as stubborn as ever, not wanting to sacrifice his style for the sake of comfort.

"Do you remember the first time you met him?" Malachai asked, surprising Aaron with the softness of his voice.

Aaron smiled nostalgically "Yeah, course I do. Mainly because I fucked even that up by running away from him." His smile slipped "It doesn't matter what you say, there can be no way that I deserved him. Look at everything I've done to him; I've hit him, I've called him names, I've caused him to be in an accident and lose all his feeling and yet he still wanted me. How can it be possible that his life is any worse off without me?"

Malachai didn't answer nor did he smile, not wanting to reveal anything too early. Just then Aaron heard the calling of a deep voice from what he presumed was the hallway "Jackson! I'm home!"

"In here, babe!" Jackson yelled back with a smile. Aaron felt as though his heart had shattered even though he knew he should've expected this. To make the pain even deeper a handsome, athletic-looking bloke entered the kitchen, flashing a killer one-hundred watt smile. "How was your day?" he asked Jackson as he pulled him in for a kiss, causing Aaron to shudder with anger and jealousy. _It's just a shadow. _He reminded himself firmly.

Still it was hard to watch _his _husband cosying up to Mr hot-shot. "Same old." Jackson grinned "Dinner's nearly ready if you want to get changed." "Yes, sir." The bloke laughed before leaning in for another kiss and churning Aaron's stomach once more.

By the time the pair were sitting at the table and chatting and laughing over the meal Jay had prepared along with a bottle of wine Aaron felt as though he had seen enough. "I get it Malachai; his life is fine without me! Better, in fact! Now can we just go?"

But again the angel just kept facing forward with a blank expression and urged Aaron to continue to do the same, which he did begrudgingly.

"Aren't you hot in that thing?" the bloke suddenly remarked, motioning at Jackson's jacket. "Take it off before you melt!" With a small grin Jackson gratefully shrugged the garment off, causing Aaron to frown as he could now see an array of bruises along his arms. Work must be hectic, so.

Jackson stood to clear the table, Mr Big-shot announcing that he'd wash up for a change. Maybe it was just Aaron being who he was, but he couldn't help but want to punch him right in his smug face for his arrogance; if he'd said he'd do the dishes "for a change" at home Jackson would give him an earful!

Yet Jackson seemed ok with this as he began picking up plates and cutlery to put in the sink before clearing away the bread and butter. Finally he picked up the wine bottle and glasses.

"I wasn't finished with that."

Maybe it was Aaron's imagination but he could've sworn he'd seen Jackson freeze slightly before replying cheerfully "Ok. Sorry" and replacing the bottle and glass on the table.

But now the atmosphere in the room seemed to have tensed, and Aaron was sure it wasn't just down to his imagination. As though to confirm this, the next sentence out of the other bloke's mouth had lost all its jovial tone and was now cold and menacingly calm "If you have something to say, then say it." Aaron noticed his fingers on one hand clench tightly on the table.

To which Jackson hastily replied "I've got nothing to say. It doesn't bother me." Though it was said reasonably calm Aaron knew Jay well enough to be able to detect the touch of anxiety in his voice.

Clearly this other bloke knew too "It does. You think I'm just some alcoholic asshole don't you?"

Jackson sighed heavily "Ralph, let's not start this…"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Ralph roared, slamming a fist down on the table with force. Aaron could only stare in horror as Jackson tried to level with him "Ralph, please. We don't need to fight over this-"

Jay was silenced as he had to duck in order to avoid a glass which was chucked violently at his head, heading the cupboard above him and showering him with wine and shards. Trembling, Jackson re-emerged to find Ralph now on his feet, teeth gritted and fists clenched as he gradually approached his shaking partner "Fight? EVERYTHING'S a fight where you're concerned! I have to put up with your judgements, your looking-down-your nose at me, your constant whining for different things!" at this he put on a mocking voice ""I want friends, Ralph! Why do you keep checking my phone, Ralph? Why don't you wash up once in a while, Ralph?" I'll tell you why; because you're _mine _and what I say goes!"

Jackson opened his mouth briefly before snapping it shut again, realising his mistake. Unfortunately Ralph had seen this too. "What were you going to say, Jackson?" he growled lowly. Jackson made no answer.

Aaron let out a sharp yelp the same time as Jackson as the flesh of the back of Ralph's hand connected forcefully with the left side of Jay's face, causing Jackson to stumble, only to be caught roughly by Ralph. Fingers digging viciously into the upper arm of Jackson's already heavily bruised arm Ralph snarled "What, you afraid to say something to me? Where's your balls, Jackson?"

With a brutal upwards motion Ralph brought his knee up between Jackson's legs, causing him to yell in pain and drop to the floor, curling up pathetically in the foetal position as Ralph began to cruelly launch kicks at any patch of flesh he could reach.

Aaron had seen red and had thrown himself towards Ralph before being caught and restrained by Malachai "These are only shadows, Aaron…"

"I don't fucking care! He's hurting him! I'll fucking kill him!" Aaron screamed, fighting to break free from the angel's hold, desperate to help his husband and put that bastard through the wall for daring to lay a finger on him.

"Even if I did let you go, you couldn't do anything. You aren't of this universe so you would pass straight through them like smoke." Aaron wanted to argue but he couldn't think of a reason why the angel would lie. "Just get me out of here!" he yelled, not bearing to see anymore.

Almost immediately Aaron found the scene had changed but this time it was pure blank, like they were on a giant canvas. As expected he found Malachai cool, calm and collected despite what he had just witnessed.

"Explain." Aaron croaked, not able or willing to elaborate more.

"Well it's hardly news to you that Jackson liked the idea of bad boys and being able to tame them. That's a lot of people's fantasy. However he only managed to strike lucky with you, because you and he were destined. By the time he had realised how wrong his relationship with Ralph was it was too late."

"What do you mean?"

"Ralph had broken him like a horse. Ralph learnt after the first few times he'd hit Jackson in a heated argument that if he came crawling back the next day and cried his eyes out with apologies Jackson would always forgive him." He paused "… Jackson doesn't get the fake shows of regret anymore. Tomorrow Ralph will just make him wear a jacket to cover up damages and tell him he should stop walking into cupboard doors. And Jackson will obey because his self-worth has by now been destroyed and Ralph's control and brain-washing is too far gone now."

Aaron thought of his confident, enthusiastic and independent husband back home and tears began to spill from his eyes. "One of the things my boss' advisor said to me when he was slagging off my criminal record was to not take my anger out on Jackson in a violent way. He made me out to be an abusive partner and the sad thing is he's probably right! I hit Jackson square in the jaw one time when all he did was try to be nice to me. I'm no better than Ralph…"

Surprisingly Malachai interrupted with a firm tone "The one and only time you hit Jackson in all the years you were together was out of fear and instinct; not because you were an authority-hungry maniac. That still doesn't make it right, but it doesn't make you a bad person. Being afraid of the force is hardly a new thing."

This temporarily distracted Aaron "The force?"

"Our term for what you humans describe as "love"." Malachai explained "We see it more as nature's most powerful force than an emotion."

Aaron frowned "So you lot can't love?"

"Not in the same way as you." Malachai explained "We feel attachments to all beings, but romantic love, paternal love…" he shrugged "Fifty thousand years is a long time to be in love with someone. Therefore we prefer to leave the force to humans."

Despite everything Aaron couldn't help but grin weakly "Use the force, Luke!"

Malachai frowned in confusion "What?"

"Never mind. So basically what you've been trying to show me is that all these people's lives, every one of them, would be worse if I wasn't here? Can you promise that?"

Malachai nodded "Yes. Think of it like the human theory of an unstoppable force meeting an immoveable object; you are the object and time is the force. Removing the object from the equation is never a good idea, Aaron as it alters time, and time altering does not give good results."

"Unless you're the doctor." Aaron replied smartly.

Again Malachai looked bewildered "Doctor, who?"

Aaron couldn't help but laugh at the angel's oblivion; it was more the fact that a celestial being, who could measure time in continental drifts, was totally befuddled by a simple pun that he found funny than the actual joke itself!

Malachai scowled, guessing that he was being made a mug of. "You humans are too easily amused!"

"Ah c'mon, where's your Christmas spirit?" Aaron chuckled before suddenly stopping, realising that this was the first time in a while that he'd genuinely laughed. Evidently Malachai was aware of this too as a smile once more broke across his immaculate face "It looks like you re-found yours."

Aaron looked pensive before Malachai questioned "Do you love your family, Aaron? Is there anything in particular you'd like them to get you for Christmas?"

Aaron thought these two questions odd but answered all the same "I do. Every single one of them. Especially Jackson and Kay; they're my whole world. I don't know if your kind understands what I'm talking about but I just love them so much that it wouldn't bother me if all they got me for Christmas was a bag of apples. As long as they still make me feel loved and safe, I'd feel as though they'd bought me a Ferrari…"

He suddenly stopped as the true point of Malachi's mission hit home "… just like they feel for me."

Malachai let out a sigh of relief as the message finally sunk in "Finally you understand, Aaron, how vital a place you've held and still hold in people's lives. In the case of Kalum, yes like all kids he wants toys for Christmas. But will he go looking for these toys when he's sad, or lonely? No, he'll look for his dad.

Jackson doesn't care about bonuses, huge presents or money. Yes, they're nice to have but at this current moment he's not thinking about those; he's wondering where his husband is and if he's ok."

He finished with a soft yet warm tone "Christmas is the time when my realm is closest to yours, and we feel the force more so at this time than any other. Don't ever lose sight of that."

Aaron nodded, heart finally filling with hope and joy which Malachai must've felt too as his angelic light brightened temporarily. This reminded Aaron of something he had been curious about since the beginning of their journey "Can I ask you one more question, Malachai?"

"Go on."

"….why have you been sent to me? I thought, you know, the Big Man-" he pointed upwards lamely "…had issues with people like me?"

He waited for Malachai to be irked but the spirit guardian merely chuckled "Sorry, but I'm not allowed to reveal much about my realm. But what I can tell you is that the force is not biased; it applies to everyone equally whether they like the way it works or not. Besides, if you humans truly believe "the big man" made you, then He made you the way he saw fit. He doesn't make mistakes."

"He did with Satan." Aaron remembered an old Sunday school service his mother had forced him to attend. "That's correct." Malachai agreed "But I'd doubt He'd make the same mistake with millions of people, wouldn't you?"

Aaron grinned "I s'pose not."

Suddenly the area around Malachai's form began to shimmer, his outline becoming blurry and his body appearing to become somewhat… brighter. Aaron was concerned by this "Malachai are you-"

"Time to wake up, Aaron." The spirit guardian cut across him somewhat sadly as the molecules of his being seemed to diverse "My time on this planet grows short. Wake up."

"But-"

"Wake up!"

….TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

_Wake up, wake up, wake u-_

Aaron's eyes snapped open as he choked slightly on a bit of saliva, caused by his murmuring in his sleep. Quickly remembering what had just happened he sat bolt upright, head whipping around to observe his surroundings. It took him a moment to realise with a jolt that he was in the driver's seat of his car, pulled onto the side of the road. Judging by the patch of fogginess on the window and his rather stiff neck he had fallen asleep slumped to one side, head resting against the window. The engine was turned off but the keys were still in the ignition which suggested that Aaron hadn't left the vehicle at all.

There was no trace of Malachai to be found. In fact there was no evidence that what Aaron had experienced that evening ever took place; his clothes were dry and clean, his shoes contained no traces of mud and of course, he was still in his car. As if that wasn't enough, upon inspection Aaron found that his back tyre was completely fine; no change needed. Getting back into his car he sat still, stunned. Although he had no recollection of pulling his car over and falling asleep it seemed to be the only logical explanation especially as he noticed to his shock that less than half an hour had passed since his departure from Hotten.

After a bit of thought he decided that it didn't matter whether it had been a dream or not. He had learnt much from it and all that mattered was the feelings of joy and gratefulness for everything he had been blessed with in his heart as a result.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

It was dark by the time he hit the village and a light shower of snow began to fall. Parking his car he all but leaped out of the vehicle and took steps two at a time to his front door, feeling as happy and giddy as a child.

Inside he found the party in full swing; music on, drinks served, a lot of chatter and laughter- just how it should be. Upon bursting into the living room the talk quietened slightly to check out their arrival, and all burst into pleasant smiles "About time you dropped in, Aaron!"

And Aaron couldn't help but beam at everyone and go to greet them all properly. There weren't lots of people there but it included all the people who mattered most to Aaron and he to them, even though he hadn't always realised it. He surprised Paddy with a tight hug "You're an absolute diamond, Paddy, you know that?"

"Erm, ok. But why?"

"Because you're such a top bloke and a great dad; to both Leo and to me. Love ya, Pads."

Paddy would've been more emotional had this not completely caught him off guard and he momentarily wondered if Aaron had had a bit too many sips of mulled wine on his way home. Still, he was touched by the sentiment "Aaron, I really don't know what to say-"

"Then don't say anything." Aaron chuckled pleasantly. "Happy Christmas!"

He moved on before Paddy could find any words and sat himself between two women who had both had a heavy influence on his life and he, apparently, on theirs; "How's the two best mothers I know?"

Hazel and Chas stared at him incredulously and his mother was more verbal about her thoughts than Paddy "Love, are you on the spirits?"

Aaron rolled his eyes jokingly; amused at the private pun "Do I have to be pissed to appreciate two particular women? One who gave me life and one who gave me the love of my life? I know in the past I've given you both a lot of grief and even now there's probably times when I still do but I do appreciate everything the pair of you have done for me both in the past and present. Not to get soppy, but I love you both. Even if you do think its drink saying this instead of me."

Both of their expressions told him that they believed him to be utterly twisted. Still he only laughed gleefully and his attention was then diverted as he heard a little voice suddenly call out "Dad!"

Aaron turned his head to find himself looking at the small, sandy-haired figure of his little boy who was smiling brightly in front of him, happy that his father was home at last. Heart beating madly Aaron sprang to his feet and lifted his surprised son into his arms, hugging him as though he never wanted to let go. Kissing his son a few times and burying his face into his hair as he held him he mumbled "My Kalum. My baby. Love you so, so, much!"

Like the others Kay was very confused but undeniably pleased at how odd his dad was behaving. Pulling himself away slightly Aaron smiled at the astonished face of his little boy and used one hand to ruffle his hair affectionately "Hey buddy, you know how Santa's coming tonight?"

"Yeah?"

"Well just so you know, he's going to be bringing you heaps of things because this year you've been the best boy in the whole world and you deserve it."

"Really?" Kay sounded excited. "Really." Aaron assured him. "Why were you gone so long?" Kalum asked, putting aside the topic of presents "I thought you got lost!"

"I had to drive all the way to Hotten, sweetheart, because David was out of wine."

"But are you staying here now?"

Aaron grinned brightly, touched by the underlying anxiety in his little lad's voice "Yeah, mate. I'm home now for Christmas!"

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Jackson paced the ground of the back garden, his worried expression steadily increasing as Aaron's phone rang out once again. He knew Aaron wasn't overly late but all the same he should have been back at this stage and considering the icy conditions of certain roads he didn't want to take any chances. So naturally as Aaron wasn't answering his calls he was starting to become a little panicky.

An unexpected crunching noise of footsteps on the frosty ground coming from behind him gave him a bit of a fright. Spinning around to identify the cause, his eyes widened as he saw who had just joined him outside "Where on earth-"

He never got to finish his sentence as he was pulled into the arms of his husband and kissed fiercely. Taken completely by surprise Jackson could only act on instinct as he kissed him back, temporarily forgetting how worried he had been and focusing only on the urgency of Aaron's lips on his and the tightness of his hold on him; one arm wrapped around Jackson's waist and the other hand tenderly clutching at the short strands of hair on the back of his head.

Only when his partner had finally let him up for air did he speak, still in Aaron's arms "What happened to you? Why didn't you answer my calls?"

"Didn't have my phone." Aaron answered simply before saying "I'm sorry."

"It's ok; just make sure you bring it along in future!"

"Not just about that. I mean I'm sorry for being such a grump this past couple of days over the money issues and things. I nearly spoilt everything."

"Don't be silly." Jackson smiled warmly "I know how disappointed you were, you had every right to be annoyed. And you could never spoil anything, you prat." He playfully rubbed noses with his husband "We have all we need for a great Christmas and more. More or less money won't make any difference."

Aaron nodded, now finally seeing for himself what Malachai had been trying to teach him all along. "I love you."

"I love you too." Jackson smiled, giving him one more kiss before laughing as he raised a hand to brush some white flakes off Aaron's dark hair "Either the snow's picking up or you're developing a serious dandruff problem!"

"Har dee har har." Aaron laughed before taking hold of his partner's hand and tugging "C'mon, there's guests in there thinking we've both done a runner!"

Both still beaming as they re-entered the house hand in hand, they spent the rest of the night in good food, company and laughter; just as Christmas Eve should be.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Aaron lay in bed, exhausted but happy. Totally and completely happy. Jackson was currently in the bathroom preparing for a shower and Kalum was long since asleep, worn out from dashing about with his cousins and little school friends who had also come to the party with their parents. Aaron had tucked him in and didn't even have time to read him a story before he was out for the count dreaming of Santa and presents and the fun tomorrow would bring.

"One thing I forgot to ask you babe; how on earth did you not freeze out there without your jacket?" Jay called from the bathroom.

Aaron felt slightly guilty; believing now might be the right time to elaborate on just what had kept him so long in Hotten.

"I mean I don't know how you could've forgotten it; it's looking you right in the face. I presume you left your phone on the chair as well?"

Aaron opened his mouth to answer but froze as Jackson's words hit him. Looking to his right almost dumbly his jaw slacked in disbelief as he saw the very jacket he had sold in Hotten lying neatly across the chair on the right side of their room.

Swinging his legs out of bed and with unsteady hands he lifted the jacket to inspect it closely; no doubt about it, it was the jacket he had worn and sold that afternoon. As further proof his phone fell out of the pocket and landed with a soft thud on the bed, followed by a piece of paper which Aaron definitely didn't remember having in his pocket. Curious, he picked it up and found it to be a note which read:

_Didn't really suit my style after all, figured you better have it back. Malachai._

_P.S. Check your phone; you should have about five missed calls from Pat. It's good news. Happy Christmas, and thanks._

Barely ten minutes later Aaron was still sitting on the side of his bed with phone held limply in his hand, mind a flutter as his mind replayed the conversation he'd just had on the phone:

Barely able to punch the digits in right due to nerves and practically holding his breath as the dial tone rang out Aaron had decided to return this phone call before he lost the courage to do so. At the third ring someone picked up "Hello?"

"Hi Pat, it's Aaron. Sorry if I woke you but I just wanted to return your call."

The discussion went better than expected and true to the heavenly being's word it was good news; "Look Aaron, you know how much of a workaholic I am. Even on holidays I'm checking up on accounts and statistics and from this I noticed you weren't getting your entitled bonus this year…"

Pat explained how McKinnon had confirmed this upon questioning and left him feeling mortified "I'll admit I'm a man of business, Aaron, and if I can save an extra penny anywhere I will. But my company does not stoop to abusing its workers regardless of who I leave in charge. Especially highly-skilled, dedicated workers like yourself which we can't afford to offend and lose. I hope you'll accept both my apologies for any hassle this might have caused, what with it being the time of year it is, and also though it might be late your bonus. It should be in your account by tomorrow."

Aaron's face must've looked a sight as Jackson came into the room because it prompted him to ask rather anxiously "Babe, you ok?"

Aaron immediately snapped out of it and diverted his gaze towards his husband; feeling all his cares fade away once more as Jackson approached. Well, clearly he hadn't imagined the journey he had been taken on that evening but even if he had it wouldn't have mattered. It had given him a well-needed kick up the ass and opened his eyes to how good he really had it. And he did; he had a wonderful life. He didn't need anything so unimportant as a bonus or flashy presents to make it so.

Crumpling the note up he tossed it aside and grinned "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking." With that he hopped back into bed and held the covers back, inviting his husband in with him. Which Jackson willingly obliged to, and within moments found himself lying back against Aaron's chest with Aaron's arms wrapped around his middle, Aaron's face gently nuzzling his neck. Jackson was curious as to why Aaron was behaving even more affectionately than usual but didn't pass comment; after all he certainly wasn't going to complain.

As he felt small kisses being placed along his neck he grinned "Aaron?"

"Yeah, baby?" Aaron briefly stopped his actions.

"Just out of curiosity; what do you most hope is under the tree for you tomorrow?"

Aaron didn't have to think too hard on it as he let his hands sweep over his husband's bare, thankfully un-bruised arms "Nothing, really."

Jackson turned his face around to look him straight in the eye, appearing baffled "Seriously?"

Aaron shrugged "Obviously I appreciate all things bought for me but there's nothing I have my heart set on. I have everything I want already."

Jackson smiled "You really do surprise me at times."

For the first time since he'd come home, Aaron's face fell as he remembered. "This year probably won't be one of them." He mumbled sadly before telling Jackson about the highly coveted present he had been unable to get in time, and how he wouldn't be flying with the Red Arrows this year.

Jackson was incredibly moved by how determined Aaron had been to secure this wonderful present for him and it grieved him only to see how disappointed Aaron seemed to be in himself for not getting it. Raising a hand to lay it on one side of his dejected husbands face and caressing it softly, he soothed "Hey babe, it doesn't matter. Thanks so much for the thought but really its ok!"

Aaron met his eyes again "But it was your dream!"

"It _was._" Jackson agreed "And it would still be a nice experience but a different dream has long since overshadowed that one and it's already come true." Raising their clasped hands he laid a kiss on Aaron's knuckles "Me, you, Kay. Our family. _This _is my dream."

Aaron hadn't believed it to be possible to love his partner any more than he already did, but there you go. Unable to voice his emotions he settled for tightening his hold around his husband and proceeding to kiss him like there was no tomorrow. Just then in the distance they could hear church bells striking twelve and they broke apart, leaning their foreheads against each other's with content, blissful smiles. Just then Aaron's eyes widened in shock as he noticed that on his right wrist, which now rested on Jay's neck, there was the small beaded bracelet which should have been at the bottom of the frozen lake at this stage. Unable to help himself he exclaimed softly "Now you're just showing off!"

"What?"

"Nothing." Aaron kissed his husband again "Happy Christmas, baby."

"Happy Christmas, gorgeous."

And though he was so caught up in the moment that he nearly missed it, Aaron could've sworn he'd heard a low chuckle outside their window. Along with the flutter of something that sounded very much like…._wings?_

The End

**Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and the best of everything in the New Year! God bless.**

**Ministryofchaos (Sarah)**


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